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Pyramids at Giza, including the Great Pyramid—one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

One of the Seven Wonders of the WorldBy: Kayley Best and Alexis Anstadt

The Great Pyramid of Giza

Long ago there was a king named King Khufu. He had a great pyramid made for himself at Giza, in Egypt, because he wanted that to be the place where his tomb would be. And now it was and still is. The pyramid has become known for being his grave.

The Great Pyramid of Giza was not destroyed by anything. So today it is known as the ancient world’s last wonder standing, because it is. You can go see the pyramids right now by clicking on this live webcam link.

The pyramids at Giza were all made by King Khufu and his son, Khafre and his grandson, Menkaure. They each built their own pyramid, that's why there are three pyramids. King Khufu’s pyramid is the tallest one and is in the middle of all three, his son Khafre’s pyramid is the one in the back and Menkaure's pyramid is the front one.

They sure did get that trait from their father and grandfather! King Khufu had the pyramid begin progress in about 2550 B.C. and the pyramid was completed in under 30 years. But archaeologists haven’t figured out about the other pyramids.

King Khufu made his pyramid with 2.3 million stone blocks. However, a lot of people believe that his wife made the tomb for him when he died. But that wasn’t the case, he made it for himself ahead of time. And it was about 16 years after the pyramid was built that he died. So, I guess he built that in just enough time.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is now on the outskirts of Cairo, in modern Egypt. To most people that started off in the middle of nowhere, but that’s where they lived at the time. They must have had a whole bunch of space at the time because the bottom of the pyramids must be HUGE! A lot of people must have helped work on getting all the bricks and stone up the steep sides. It actually took 6,700 workers to build just Khufu’s pyramid! And don’t forget that’s only one pyramid!

Now, it wouldn’t be the pyramids—that’s plural—if there weren’t more of them, right?! The pyramid that was made after King Khufu’s pyramid is his son’s pyramid, Khafre’s pyramid. Khafre’s pyramid was the one in the front of all the pyramids.

Khafre’s pyramid began construction in about 2558 B.C. It’s the second smallest, but it appears to be the tallest because it is on bedrock. It is also the second largest pyramid out of the three. Khafre’s pyramid is 136.4 meters (448 ft) tall. It is made up of more than 2 tons of limestone. Did you know that due to the plateau, the northwest corner had to be cut 10 m (33 ft) out of the rock!

The pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest of all the pyramids in Giza, Egypt. This pyramid was also known to be another tomb built for him. So he must have had a lot in common with his grandfather Khufu. The height of this pyramid is about 65 metres. And now the pyramid is about 61 metres, because of all the erosion and rain.

Menkaure’s pyramid was built in the 26th century B.C. This pyramid has a gigantic hole in it because of a failed attempted demolition. So now there is a huge hole in the middle of this pyramid.

All of these pyramids were built because Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure all wanted to have a place of extraordinary greatness to be called their tomb. So they all built their pyramids and placed their tombs inside. Now everyone knows where all of their final resting places were and still are.

All of these pyramids have what is known as “bed rock” under them so that way they won’t roll away. But how is it supposed to roll away in a desert?! That is the main reason that all these pyramids are still here today. And none of them were destroyed, even through trying to be broken down, they stayed strong.

I guess all of these people knew what to make them out of, or they just got really lucky not to be destroyed. Who knows? Maybe one day we will be able to see King Khufu and his son and grandson.